A Facebook page with no likes, is a Facebook page not worth having. Fortunately once you have built a decent amount of initial page likes, more will follow organically. But how do you go about building likes to a new page, follow my top tips for building page likes and you’ll be on your way to a million likes in no time.

Good content will naturally get shared and liked

The best way to build Facebook likes is simple. Write, share and create good outstanding, valuable and unique content

Posting content that fits into the above criteria on your Facebook page will naturally get shared; if you just re-use work from other Facebook pages, chances are people have already seen it and will not bother liking or sharing.

Some of the most shared content includes funny images, memes, short stories, creative images, facts and news. Try to create your own images or stories to post, that way they will be 100% unique and if they are of good quality they should get shared and liked which will ultimately increase your page likes.

If you have a website, use it to build likes

One of the easiest ways to build likes is through a website that already gets traffic. Although simply adding a Facebook like box into the sidebar of your site may build a few likes over time, it will not build the amount required for your page to really take off.

The best way I have found to increase your likes, from traffic your website already gets is by content locking, which is basically showing only half an article and then making readers like your page before they can read the rest. This might not be a solution everyone wants to setup, as it has the potential of annoying visitors.

An alternative would be for a popup to appear after they have spent X amount of seconds on your site, this popup should be closable without them having to like your page – this is also an effective way to build likes from your website.

Get your friends and family to like your page and share posts

If you don’t have a website that gets traffic, the best starting point would be to get your friends and family to like and share your page, as well as liking and sharing your posts. Depending on how many friends you have that would be willing to do this it can work very well. Unless of course for any reason you didn’t want your friends to know you were running the page.

It’s important to get your friends to like and share your posts rather than just the page, especially if you have a post that has the potential to go viral – like a funny photo or video.

Like and comment on other pages in your niche

It’s possible to like and comment on other pages using your page name, take advantage of this. For example if you page is about ‘Cute Dogs’, visit other pages about dogs and dog club pages comment on their wall with some cute images of dogs, and be a part of their community.

Facebook now allows images in comments which makes this tactic even more effective, especially if your page is in a niche that has a lot of images like food, animals or funny stuff. When you comment on a post, include your best image along with a short line telling people to like your page for more, something like: ‘Like our page for more cute images of dogs!’

Facebook Advertising

So far the above tips help you build free Facebook likes, this tip however involves you spending a little bit of money. Facebook advertising is brilliant, especially for building likes to your Facebook page or posts.

Using Facebook advertising while your page is still fairly new can help build initial page likes and get the momentum going – before advertising ensure your page is full of good content.

Use Other Social Networks Such as YouTube and Twitter

If you have other social profiles, recommend your followers to also like your Facebook page. YouTube is perfect if you do not already have a following on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or LinkedIn as you don’t need followers for your video to get seen.

Try creating a ‘good’ video and posting it on YouTube, it can be a funny video a compilation video or anything else that comes to your head. You can then add a ‘annotation’ linking to your Facebook page. Doing this can not only increase your Facebook likes, but also your YouTube subscribers!

Use 9Gag and other Meme sharing websites

Whatever market you are in, you can almost certainly create an amusing meme that will get users attention. Try creating a unique ‘funny’ meme related to your niche, and then post it on websites like 9Gag – include a watermark saying something along the lines of ‘Follow us on Facebook for more /thiswebguy’ (obviously replacing This Web Guy for your own Facebook name).

Use Offline Marketing and Print

Offline print and marketing materials such as business cards and flyers can be a great source of Facebook likes. Simply display the link along with a Facebook logo, you’ll be surprised how many people actually check you out – you can also be even more creative and include a ‘QR Code’ that points directly to your page!

Conclusion

Once you have built Facebook likes, the next stage is keeping them engaged so they do not un-like the page. The best way of doing this is by regularly posting quality content.